The Atala butterfly ’ s wingspan is roughly the length of my thumb . In the late 1800s , this butterfly , endemic to Florida and parts of the Caribbean , was among the most abundant insects in the state . Half a century later , the Atala went extinct . Or so scientists thought . I guess it ’ s easy to lose track of a butterfly that small .
Atalas depend on the coontie for survival . Females lay their eggs on this plant — North America ’ s only native cycad , a plant that resembles a palm ( but is not ) and dates to the Mesozoic era — and when they hatch , the caterpillars munch on the coontie ’ s fronds . But when Indigenous tribes showed European settlers how to harvest coonties for their starchy roots , the plant dramatically declined . Urbanization of southern Florida in the early 1900s exacerbated the plant ’ s disappearance — and with it went the Atalas .
Dr . Zak Gezon is passionate about protecting the 72 butterfly species who call Walt Disney World home . © DISNEY
The Atala butterfly is one of many species that Disney has helped to protect and restore . In fact , Dr . Zak told me 72 different butterfly species call Walt Disney World home — and that ’ s no accident .
The small Atala butterfly . © DISNEY
Entomologists were delighted when , decades later , a naturalist found a colony of Atala butterflies off the coast of Miami . And slowly but surely , scientists and environmentalists worked to rebuild the population , eventually with the help of the Disney Conservation Fund and Disney ’ s Animal Kingdom .
“ We were able to do a lot of work on habitat restoration ,” Dr . Zak Gezon , Conservation Director for Disney ’ s Animals , Science and Environment team , told me . “ For example , the nature trails behind Disney ’ s Vero Beach Resort . We put in the plants that Atala butterflies like to feed off of for nectar and lay their eggs on . And then , working with Cast Members and different teams , we got help raising these insects [ at Animal
Kingdom ] and then transporting them down to Vero Beach , where the recreation team would then take kids and families out onto the nature trails , and kids would get to release these butterflies back into a restored habitat . And these are insects that were thought to have gone extinct .”
“ Almost a third of Walt Disney World — about 9,000 acres — is set aside as conservation area , and we do regular monitoring out there ,” Dr . Zak explained . “ And in our surveys , we ’ ve observed 72 species of butterflies making use of our properties . That includes things like the giant swallowtail , a massive beautiful yellow-and-black butterfly that ’ s huge and breathtaking . It includes our state butterfly , the zebra longwing , a really slowflying , flamboyant , vividly colored butterfly . And probably the most famous of the butterflies : the monarch .”
“ This is wilderness as it ’ s meant to be .”
How Disney manages that conservation area varies . According to Dr . Zak , most of this land is true wilderness , where “ we let nature do what nature does .” The team has some land management practices to protect the area , but , by and large , they ’ re hands off .
“ When you ’ re riding the Skyliner or you ’ re on the monorail , and it feels like you ’ re in the middle of nowhere , in the middle of a forest , you literally are ,” Dr . Zak said . “ This is wilderness as it ’ s meant to be .”
There are some specific areas , however , where Disney takes a heavier hand in managing the land , like near the solar arrays , north of Disney ’ s Yacht Club Resort . This land set aside for the production of renewable energy doubles as a pollinator habitat , where experts like Dr . Zak have been able to experiment to see which butterfly and bee species may thrive here .
Butterflies abound at Walt Disney World . PHOTO BY LAURIE SAPP